April 2012

04/26/2012

I know I said I wouldn't do another post on animal shelters until I've covered a few more topics, but this is not about animal shelters. This is about dogs not in animal shelters.

Firstly, I would like to dispel any prejudice against pit bulls. It is not their fault that they were bred to fight to the death. It is not their fault that stupid people are arrested every year for dogfighting. It is certainly not their fault that idiots think it's funny train dogs to be as bloodthirsty as possible before having their lives gambled away for money, just because their owners need to get a life.

This is Marley. She is a very small pit bull who was dragged across two rows of fencing away from her owners. Her family is extremely concerned that she will be "bait" for the larger fighting dogs; that is, a dog used to train the ones born with the ability to put up a fight. Basically, some people have no qualms about sacrificing smaller dogs in order to kill one fighting dog, and corrupt another for life. If you see her, please contact Karen Barboza.

If you see any dogfighting, anywhere, report it. And don't leave your dogs outside unattended; just because they can't get out doesn't mean other people can't get in.

Dogfighting is illegal for a reason. It's possibly the most inhumane thing I can think of, and that includes all the thousand-dollar medical care expenses shelters receive each year, often for animals who have been neglected or intentionally mistreated. No one deserves to live like that. No one.

I'm back, and guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?! Marley was found! She'd got an injury to her leg, but she'll be okay.

04/21/2012

Well, this Earth Day is going to be a bit of a drag. For those of you who for some terrible reason don't know, Earth Day is the 22nd of April, and where I am it's supposed to rain, along with a bit of precipitation and possibly some cloudy skies. I will therefore mostly celebrate Earth Day today and next week. However, if you don't live in a rainy place, Earth Day and Every Day are great times to find me some new members. Please? That goal of 50 members by tomorrow isn't going so well. Here are your basics:

Plant a tree.Pick up trash.Plant a garden, butterfly or otherwise, NATIVE plants.Make an art project out of recyclables.Put together a lemonade stand for an organization like the World Wildlife Foundation.Build or paint a birdhouse.Make flyers about global warming or other nature topics.Pull invasive species. For the Eastern Coast of the U.S., these include garlic mustard, DEVIL'S TEAR THUMB, bittersweet, multiflora rose, and Japanese honeysuckle. Sometime this summer, I'm likely to do a post on those. Nasty things.Participate in Project SOS (one of our pages).

Please actually spend time doing something. Switching to recycled toilet paper is great, but it's kind of awkward for me to have to explain to someone that you need to do something a bit more in-depth than that. So, celebrate Earth Day or make a substitute. We'll be doing a little of both.

04/16/2012

Today it is Easter Monday (well it was when I started writing this), and the fruit of the labor of many Nature Army members (and a lot of ribbon) is finally going to the Chester County SPCA, as promised. Its goodness consists of a batch of dog treats, octopus cat toys, the blankets mentioned in the second post, pens, and two projects we haven't told you about: plastic Easter egg cat toys and denim dog toys. To make the dog toys, you will need... Oh, wait. I have to do it in this format.

Skills: Cutting, braiding, tying, drawing straight lines, and playing tug of war with a 2 inch hand-hold.Time: I have no idea.Materials: Old jeans, preferably not ripped, ruler, marker (that works), sewing scissors

First, cut off the legs so that the junk with all the pockets can be thrown away. Using the scissors, cut the legs into approximately 2 inch wide strips, with or without the marker and ruler. Take three of them and line up one of the ends. Tie them together. Then braid them. Tie another knot and pull in such a way that it couldn't come out unless it was tied to the tusks of 2 elephants in the mood to destroy something. It's rather self-explanatory. We made about ten of these with one pair of jeans. Don't use jeans that are too short because you won't have enough to braid. They actually look really professional when they're done. However, I won't lie— I look truly awful in that picture.

Our other project was plastic Easter egg cat toys. Just take an empty Easter egg and add a bell or 3 or 4 beans or pieces of cat kibble. Next hot glue the two pieces closed. You can decorate these with permanent markers. Don't add tails or other things cats could rip off and choke on. We made nearly two dozen.

Here is our enormous care package. Doesn't it look like a Tootsie roll?

No, no, no! I can't end this post yet because I forgot about another idea I had, and last post I promised I'd try to go at least 5 posts without talking about an animal shelter! We will be growing kale this spring, and possibly lettuce, to donate to the Baltimore Humane Society. Their website is www.bmorehumane.org/, and on their wish list they ask for fresh vegetables for the rabbits. It must be dreadfully boring to live off of "Nutri-Pellets" all the time.

Oh, and if you want to join, could you please work on that? Earth Day is next Sunday, and we are less than halfway to our goal. I doubt we'll get to 50 members by then, but let's make it close.

Remember that contest I put up an eon or two ago? Well, it's not fair to judge for just two posts, so I am giving the Participation Award to the makers of these two photographs. This young octopus is performing a piano recital to a small group of adults at Peabody. (See the guy farthest to the right? Yep, definitely a Ravens fan.)

This is no regular stroll through the park as they might say- it's a swim in this underwater park for the octopi. While you swim, you come to realize that these octopi are no different than you. You see one fly kites, play with bouncy balls, and even a lonely octopus eating a pirate's treasure for lunch. Enjoy your stay!

Thank you to the two people who actually sent me entries. I understand that people who don't own a website or don't know my e-mail address didn't have the ability, but still...

So, I will have probably one post on animal shelters after this. Then I am going to try and do 5 posts after that in a row that focus on other topics. I'm not sure I can do this. Optimism. Right.

04/02/2012

So, right now there are 4 little puff balls in the basement. They came in the mail last Wednesday, and I am in love.

A few chicken facts:

Pecking orders are not a myth. Chickens do have a social class system, and one of our poor Silkies is at the bottom.

Silkies get annoyed at their feathered legs. I can see how that might bother them.

Chicks can and will fall asleep in minutes on your hand. They won't exactly purr, but they do a little vibrating thing that has the same effect. We seem to have caught this one in mid-yawn.

Because they don't have muscles in their beaks they way we do in our mouths, when they take a drink they have to stick their beak in the air so the water goes down their throat.

The best way to torture a cat is to put a door between him and four delicious chickens.

Our two breeds of chickens are Silkies and Buff Orpingtons. Right now, being chicks, they don't really look like their adult counterparts, but I've done my homework and can tell that the Silkies are the ones with dark beaks, dark feet, and feathered legs, and the Buff Orpingtons are the other ones— you know, the picture you conjure in your mind when you think of chicks. This is one of the Silkies.

Absolutely perfect. Her eyes haven't disappeared— yet. Silkies. The old English sheepdog of the chicken world. And, because the Buff Orpingtons haven't been shown yet, here she is.All photographs courtesy of www.kidbaltimore.com/.

Again: Aren't they just perfect?

Oh, and when they're bigger they'll lay eggs, but we don't particularly care about that at the moment.